Synopsis: The course will deal with questions related to the context, actors, and substance of politics in Europe. We will discuss the pros and cons of an integrated economic area, the functioning and the impact of the European Union at the supranational, national, and regional level, the mechanisms of European integration, the concepts of sovereignty and borders in the European context, ideological and security differences/similarities between US and Europe. The students will get to know who is who in the German, French, British, and Italian politics. Together, we will sketch several scenarios regarding the future of the relations between Europe and America, discussing what can US policy-makers learn from the European experience and vice versa.